Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Reid
Coach Westonleisurely paced along the wall with his hands behind his back. “I’ve got to say, boys. I didn’t think I could ever be this disappointed in you.”
And just like that, every molecule of air was sucked out of the locker room. I flicked my eyes to Benjamin, but he was staring at the floor. What was this about?
Boysshould have been my first clue that something was wrong. Coach called us men or team or guys if he was being less formal. Boys was supposed to hurt, and it did. Coach Payne and Hiller leaned against either side of the door, wearing matching expressions of neutrality, not giving away any hints of where this was going.
“You see, when each and every one of you was recruited and brought onto this team, there was a very specific rule I made sure you understood. I told you verbally. I told you in a letter. I asked you to confirm in writing that you not only knew the rule but that you agreed to obey it.” He exhaled and pivoted to face us. “One rule I knew would be difficult for the average college student to abide by. It was asking a lot of you as young men, but I trusted you to be mature enough to not only follow it for your time here, but really accept––no believe and trust it deep in your heart––that it was for the good of not only your future but your brothers.”
This was bad. So, so bad. Coach wasn’t one for long talks or fluffy language. He was direct and to the point. If he was drawing this all out, he was pissed. I kept my head down and glanced around the room, looking for hints of why we were in trouble, but no one stood out as the culprit.
Coach flicked a finger, and Coach Payne turned off the lights as the projector turned on and two images appeared side by side. My stomach dropped to the floor. Greco and Lee, two sophomores, were smiling and holding red cups up with their arms wrapped around girls. Nothing about it was directly incriminating, but it was enough.
“Shaw, please remind the room of the rule,” Coach said in a chilling tone.
Hunter, a fellow senior, cleared his throat. “Players on West Penn’s men’s hockey team will not participate in activities that may present the team in a negative light. Including, but not limited to: providing and/or consuming or using alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Team members that find themselves in the presence of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and do not immediately remove themselves from the situation face sanctions from the coaching staff and/or athletic department.”
“Thank you.” Coach looked directly at Greco and Lee. “Cruz, does it appear that Mr. Greco and Mr. Lee immediately removed themselves from a potentially damaging situation?”
Benjamin’s face was blank as he looked up and scanned the room for the sophomores. Once he landed on them, his jaw ticked. “No, Coach.”
“Mr. Lee, are you aware of the reason this rule exists?” Coach’s calm was beginning to freak me out.
“Yes, Coach,” he answered.
“And what is that reason?”
Lee cleared his throat. “Five years ago, members of West Penn’s men’s hockey team attended a party off-campus and consumed alcohol and various drugs.”
“Yes, and then what happened?” Coach prodded.
I closed my eyes as Lee continued. “Two members of the team drove while under the influence and hit a car which injured two people and killed a child.” Lee’s voice caught. I watched him swallow, then go on with the story we all knew by heart. “Two other members also drove while under the influence and hit a tree, injuring one player to the point of being unable to play hockey ever again. One member was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning, another was accused of sexual assault, and a total of seven members were arrested.”
Coach sucked in a breath. “Mr. Greco, what was the outcome of that night?”
“The NHL blacklisted the school,” Greco replied.
I dropped my head in my hands and sighed. That was not the correct answer.
“Countless lives were affected by the poor decisions of the team’s members,” Ethan spoke up. “Futures were taken away. There were court appearances, hospital bills, funeral costs, as well as the tarnish put on not only the hockey program but the school.” He glared at Greco. “The NHL didn’t blacklist the program. Scouts didn’t come here because those players made the decision to give up that privilege for a night of fun.”
The guilty parties ducked their heads. Not just Lee and Greco, but Benjamin, Kevin, Becker, Matt, and me. We’d been at the party too. We just weren’t dumb enough to accept any drinks or be photographed.
There was an agreement amongst us players. We had each other’s backs. We supported each other through anything, as long as we played by the unspoken rule. Don’t get caught.
If you go to a party you shouldn’t be at because there’s drugs or alcohol, be smart. Be discrete. Leave no mark.
Most of the other student-athletes followed this same protocol. We were a united front. The rest of the students were hit or miss. Some wanted nothing more than to take down a star football player or the captain of the basketball team, but most didn’t want us to get in trouble either.
But these two broke all the rules.
So they were on their own.
The lights turned back on, and Coach Payne stepped forward. “The hockey program was wiped clean. The coaching staff was replaced, and the players that weren’t suspended or expelled transferred to other schools to keep their names clean of the stain that was the infamous West Penn team. It took two years to rebuild, then another to regain the trust of the NCAA and NHL.” Payne looked around the room, pointing out the seniors. “These men were the select few that believed in Coach Weston, Coach Hiller, and myself enough to risk coming here. They’ve worked their entire careers at the school to make up for what happened before their time. They committed to rebuilding the program with us. They chose the hard path so the rest of you could have a future here.” He crossed his arms with a frown. “Every single one of you knew what was required of you before you committed to this team. None of this is new information. You knew we were strict. You know what to expect. So there is no excuse for this behavior. If you wanted to spend your college years getting wasted between games, you should have picked somewhere else.”
“You disrespected us,” Coach Hiller spoke up. “You disrespected your teammates, and you disrespected yourselves.”
Coach Weston nodded, his eyes locked on the two under fire. “Both of you are suspended for three weeks. If this happens again, you’re out.”
Greco paled, and Lee’s mouth dropped.
I was even surprised. That was more leniency than I expected.
“This is where you say thank you and promise it will never happen again.” Benjamin stood and glared at them.
“Right, of course. Thank you, Coaches.” Lee almost looked like he was going to bow.
“Thank you,” Greco repeated. “It won’t happen again.”
The three coaches glanced at each other before nodding and leaving the locker room. It was silent for several seconds before Ethan stood, moving next to Benjamin. “None of us have put in this much work, dedicated this much time and energy, or sacrificed a normal life to make it to the college level. This is not the goal. We’re all here for the same reason, getting to the next level.” His words echoed while he stared down each of us, and even though he was my best friend and someone I knew better than most, I was intimidated. “I will not tolerate anyone standing in my way of that, nor will I let the actions of a few ruin the chances for the rest of us. Don’t think that the school won’t do it again. If they think we’re a problem, we will be out. The scouts will not come. We won’t be considered for the draft. I will not let that happen.” He ground out each word. “Understand?”
Everyone agreed at once.
“Let’s go practice,” Benjamin said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. It was almost as terrifying as Ethan’s yelling.
None of the normal chatter and teasing could be heard through the arena. The only sound was the slap of sticks on ice as we ran through drills with laser focus. The coaches weren’t taking it easy on us, but no one dared to mutter one complaint. This was a punishment we deserved. It wasn’t only Greco and Lee that messed up, they were just the two that got caught.
Even though we thought the party was safe, we should have left when we realized it wasn’t. If we’d done that, I never would have kissed Haley.
I clenched my jaw and pushed myself faster, draining the last drop of strength from my legs. That night was a mistake.
“Take five,” Coach Hiller called.
I dropped onto the bench with a sigh and reached for a water bottle, filling my mouth before passing it to Matt.
“Anyone know them?” Hunter asked under his breath. His eyes were focused on a small group of girls sitting a few rows up.
I didn’t bother with a response.
“They’re hot.” Kevin smirked.
“Are you kidding me?” Becker scolded. “We just survived a verbal beat down, and you guys are thinking about some girls?”
“You guys need to focus,” I agreed. “We all need to keep it together for the next few weeks, or things will explode.”
Hunter held up his hands. “Got it.”
Kevin had the decency to look guilty. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Time’s up,” Coach Weston called. “Split into teams.”
We broke apart into our lines and played as hard as we would in a real game. None of us wanted to be the weakest link today.
I was moving back to position for a faceoff, and movement in the stands caught my attention. I caught a glimpse of brunette hair. My heart hammered and the whistle blew, but I missed the drop a second after realizing it wasn’t Haley.
“Come on, Bayman,” Ethan shot at me as he passed.
Great. I was just as bad as the others, letting a pretty face distract me. She was the last thing I should be thinking about, now or ever. She was off-limits.
Sweat dripped down my face, back, and arms by the time practice ended, and we were dismissed to the locker room. I pulled off my gear, cringing at the soggy pads, and ran a towel over my head before sitting down in front of my locker. I needed a moment to catch my breath and lower my heartrate before showering, so I reached into my bag and checked my phone. There were four unread messages from my dad.
That was enough of an anomaly to pique my interest. I opened the thread and read, growing more annoyed with each word. My grip tightened, and I barely contained the urge to throw my phone across the room.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked as he stepped up next to me with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair leaving a wet path behind him.
I lifted the phone and let him read for himself.
He sighed and straightened. “He thinks he’s being helpful.”
“He’s being insulting,” I corrected. Dad sent me contacts to reach out to about internships or jobs for the summer. Which would be great for nearly every other senior on campus. But for me, it was a reminder that he didn’t actually believe in me. Like my business degree, those were just a part of a backup plan. For when I didn’t make it into the NHL. Why did he bother putting me on teams, buying me new gear, and paying for additional training my whole life if he didn’t think I’d make it to the pro level?
I’d asked him before, but he told me I was looking at it wrong. He was providing me with the best possible chance of reaching my dreams while also making sure I had options. None of my friends’ parents did that, at least not so blatantly.
“Hey, forget about him. I need your help with something.” He pulled on his shirt, then checked that no one was listening to us before leaning in. “I heard someone kissed Haley at that party, and I need your help hunting him down.”
My heart jumped into my throat, and I closed my eyes to keep from reacting any further. “Where’d you hear that?”
“One of the guys on the soccer team told me he saw her but didn’t get a good look at the guy. Just that he was taller than her and had brown hair.”
This was the perfect opportunity to fess up. Admit that it was me, but I hadn’t known who she was at the time. Ask for forgiveness. He might understand.
“I’m going to kill him when I find him.”
Or not.
“Can’t she make her own decisions? What if she wanted to kiss him?” I was getting dangerously close to outing myself, but I didn’t understand this version of Ethan. He hardly cared about anything or anyone outside of hockey. He never mentioned Haley before she moved here, so what was the big deal?
“There are things you don’t know,” he said cryptically. “There’s no way she’d ever choose to kiss someone. Especially at a party where she didn’t know anyone.”
What? He thought some guy forced himself on her? That’s why he was so mad?
There was no way I could let him find out it was me. Not now.
“Sure. I’ll help you.” Find someone else to blame.